Escape
by The Cat's Paw
Summary: Four people work together to escape their Thalmor captors in Northwatch Keep. Rated M for mentions of torture, murder and rape. An alternate start story.


**This was written with the intention of making it bigger, but I changed my mind, so now it can just be a one shot. It's based on the 'Prisoner of the Thalmor' choice in the Alternate Start extension, New Beginnings, that starts you off in Northwatch Keep.**

 **So, I don't own Skyrim or the Alternate start mods, but do enjoy this. :)**

 **WARNING! Mentions of rape and torture.**

 _ **Escape**_

The cell was dank, dirty, and cold. Marta groaned slightly as she rolled over, her body aching from another cold night spent on the floor. She reached up instinctively for her father's amulet of Talos, only to find it gone. A moment of panic, and then she remembered that the damned Thalmor Justiciar had it. Every time he came in here to interrogate her, he'd wave it in front of her face, mocking her with it.

She sighed. The only thing she had on her was the ragged clothes on her back. They were thin, and she felt every chill in them, every sharp jab of the stone floor beneath her. Closing her eyes, Marta offered a prayer up to Talos, to Kyne, to Dibella, and to Arkay, the four Divines she worshipped the most. When she was young, she'd been in training to become a priestess of Dibella, but then her parents had moved the whole family halfway across Tamriel, and that training had ceased.

There was no knowing how long she'd been here. Marta had been picked up at the border to High Rock, along with her parents, her brother, and her brother's family. They were all moving to Skyrim, to Solitude, more precisely. It was where their parents had grown up, where Marta's brother, Davin, had actually been born. They were basically returning home.

There had been a Thalmor patrol at the border, and they'd been searching everyone. They'd found her father's amulet, and had immediately arrested them. They'd been brought to this prison, not that far away from the border, and Marta's parents had been tortured until they'd died. Marta had screamed herself hoarse during the whole thing, throwing up afterwards, and unable to stop dry heaving for a long time afterwards. Davin and his wife had been next, and their six month old child, Marta's nephew, had mysteriously 'disappeared'.

Marta was the only one left now. She endured daily torture, near starvation, and she was incredibly filthy. The one time they'd cleaned her up, it was to 'gift' her to one of their non elven spies for the night. She'd cried the whole time the brute of a man had had his way with her, and had never been so pleased to be thrown into her cold and dirty cell afterwards.

There were other prisoners here, three that she knew of. Another Nord, a Breton, and an Argonian. The Nord was relatively new, and was quite vocal in his hatred of their captors. He was tortured the most these days. The Breton had arrived not long after Marta and her family, and had already been raped several times. She was hardly ever tortured, though. The Argonian was here before Marta, but for some reason, the Thalmor hardly bothered him at all.

A door slammed somewhere, and Marta jumped. She looked over to see that Justiciar Thandel was coming, and she shrank back, hoping he wasn't coming for her. No such luck, as he jingled his keys and opened her door.

"Time for you to answer some questions now, human," he said, sneering.

He'd never asked any questions before, and this time was no different. When he was done, he dropped her to the floor and turned to leave. But then he changed his mind and bent down to sneer once more.

"We'll be bathing you, tomorrow," he informed her, and smirked at the fear that pulsated off of her. "Jarand has been talking about you, apparently he loved fucking you. Brutes, the lot of you, but occasionally, someone's useful."

He laughed, but Marta's attention was diverted to the elven dagger poking out of his boot. A combination of fear and desperation had her grabbing the dagger and shoving it into his heart. Shock covered his features, then he slumped forward, dead. Silence filled all the cells, then the other Nord was hissing, "Quick! Get his keys and get us out of here!"

Shakily Marta stood, staring at the blood on her hand. "Kinsman! Hurry it up!" She snapped out of her daze and grabbed the keys, before stumbling out of her cell. Marta unlocked his cell, and he snatched the keys from her, unlocking the other two. The Breton came willingly, but the Argonian looked uncertain.

"Don't you want your freedom?" the Nord demanded.

"What's the point, when they'll just capture me again?" the Argonian asked.

"The point is, don't get captured!" he was told.

The Argonian shrugged, then slowly got to his feet. "There are half a dozen other Thalmor here," he said. "Not to mention the ones outside. Just how do you expect to get out?"

The Nord pointed over to a door. "That's an armoury," he said. "Weapons, armour, _our_ belongings."

"Fine," the Argonian eventually agreed, and the two of them carefully snuck over there.

The Nord came out in a mix of glass and leather armour a moment later, with a glass sword for Marta and the Breton. "Come on," he said. "There's some armour in there that looks like it might fit either one of you."

The two women started to follow, then the Argonian appeared in the doorway, making a hushing gesture, and pointing behind them, holding up one finger to indicate how many. The Breton started to whimper, and Marta pulled her close. The Nord snuck over to the door, and when a Thalmor in glass armour came through, quietly slit his throat. The Argonian came over and helped move the body into one of the cells.

"Go get some armour," the Nord told the two of them, and they obeyed.

Marta was pleased to find her brother's sword in here, and grabbed that, along with some elven armour. The Breton grabbed some glass armour, along with a bow and a quiver full of arrows, then they rejoined the others. "Which way?" Marta asked when they rejoined the other two.

"The Argonian and I will go this way," he said, indicating. "You and the Breton go the other way. When you find a way out, come back and get us, or we'll come get you."

"My name is Chaela," the Breton, Chaela, told him.

"My apologies," the Nord said. "I'm Geirolf."

"Marta," the woman in question said.

They all looked at the Argonian, who snapped, "None of your damned business!"

"Alright, Argonian," Geirolf said. "Let's go."

They went their separate ways then. Chaela was really good with her bow, and took out two Thalmor while they weren't looking. Marta took out another with her sword. Soon, they came across a door that led outside. Marta took a sneak peek outside, before the two of them backtracked, running into the other two not far past the cell room.

"We found our stuff," Geirolf said. "Follow me, you can get your belongings too, if it's still there."

Marta found some of her family's things. Her mother's wedding ring, which she put on immediately, as well as her father's amulet of Talos. A bag of her sister in law's clothes, a stuffed bear, and her brother's prized dagger that was enchanted with health absorption. A bag also held Marta's favourite armour set, though it wasn't the same thing it had been in when they got here. There was also some gold, a few gems, and a bottle of ale.

"You done?" Geirolf asked. "Let's go then."

"Which door should we go out of?" Chaela asked him shyly, and Marta realised that she was developing a crush on the take-charge Nord.

"Whichever's closer," the Argonian said grumpily.

"There's a door out just over there," Geirolf said, pointing, and they headed off.

With their armour and weapons, and the vial of magicka potion that Chaela had chugged just before they left the keep, they were well prepared for the fight outside. Geirolf charged in with his sword, the Argonian weaved in and out with his daggers, and Chaela shot arrows and cast spells. Marta backed Geirolf up with her sword, and soon all the enemies outside were dead.

Geirolf had a nasty gash on his arms, and was bleeding profusely from another cut on his forehead. Chaela healed him up. She had the least injuries, being able to stay back a bit with her bow and magic. The Argonian had been sliced across the back of his leg, and was limping. He'd refused Chaela's help, saying he would be fine. Marta had multiple wounds on her, but they were all superficial, and after taking her own magicka potion, she used a healing spell she'd learned in Temple to heal herself.

The Argonian took off once the battle was over, slowly making his way east. Once he was gone, Chaela turned to Marta and asked, "Where did you learn healing?"

"Temple of Dibella, in Anvil," she said. "I studied for a few years, before my family moved us to Hammerfell."

Geirolf was healed now, and he moved his arms about, testing them out. "You've been living in Hammerfell?" he asked, interested, and Chaela pouted.

"Only for a little while," Marta said. "Then we moved to High Rock."

He nodded, then sighed. "Well, here is where we may part ways," he said. "Chaela, maybe you should try to head to High Rock..."

"I can't," she said. "It'll be easy for them to find me there."

"Where are _you_ going?" Marta asked him.

"East, to Windhelm," he said. "I'm a Stormcloak, and I'm sure Jarl Ulfric would appreciate having his soldier back."

"You should take Chaela with you," Marta said. "She'd be safe in Stormcloak territory, ideally. What do you think, Chaela?"

The woman in question nodded eagerly, and Geirolf chuckled. "Very well," he agreed. "What of you, Marta? Where will you go?"

Where would she go? Her family had come to Skyrim to reconnect with their Nordic roots, maybe she should continue that, in their honour. And there was her nephew to consider. Maybe there were some documents inside that could tell her where he'd been taken?

"I've no idea," she said. "But maybe we'll meet again in the future?"

"I'd like that, kinsman," Geirolf said. "Talos guide you."

Chaela hugged her, Geirolf patted her on the back, and the two of them set off, leaving Marta there on her own.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**

 **PS: I put a mod on my game last night that made all vanilla clothing and armour invisible, and I spent the whole time until I took the mod off giggling at naked people. ;)**


End file.
